A week and a half ago, I took ds4 to a playdate at a friend’s house, and as I entered the building, noticed a refrigerator box by the entrance. When I got upstairs, the mother of his friend told me she brought it there and was waiting for her husband to bring it upstairs for her kids to play with.
I thought that was a great idea – in fact, my first thought when I saw it was how nice it would be for the littles to play in! We don’t have any toys now that we moved – we just brought some board games with us – but even if we had loads, the creative play and fun potential for little kids and boxes is immense!
A few days later, I saw another box but there was no way for me to get it home. And then, that night dh mentioned he had seen a great box and wanted to bring it home for the kids, and it was the exact same one I had seen. Neither of us had mentioned the idea to one another, but we were obviously thinking along the same track.
On Thursday I was doing my weekly produce rearranging after my food delivery arrived, and put aside three extra cartons for the littles to play with. They had a great time on Shabbos with them, and I mentioned to dd15 how I’d love to find a refrigerator box for them.
This morning, I heard some noise outside my building, and when I looked to see what it was, saw a moving truck, and some men were bringing a new refrigerator to my building! They had just taken it out of the box which was sitting right next to the entrance of my building. I ran downstairs before they had a chance to throw it away, and asked if I could take it. They agreed right away, and with only a flight of stairs to bring the box up, it was now very doable for me to bring it home!
A bonus of this box over the others I saw is that it still had the bottom piece on it – this piece is heavy plastic covered with styrofoam, which makes a sturdy door when the refrigerator is laid on its side! I’m looking forward to the reaction of ds5 and ds4 when they get home – I think they’re going to love this. The biggest issue I have is where to keep it – I have space in my living/dining area, but it doesn’t aesthetically enhance the look of the room. 🙂 I think I’m going to switch a couch and the place where the box is right now to remedy that, so the box won’t be the first thing you see when you walk in.
Have you ever thought how amazing it is, the many things that come our way just when we want them? Do you think that’s a coincidence? I don’t!
Avivah
I don’t think it is a coincidence either. Your boys are going to love it! We were blessed to be able to get new laundry machines last year, and requested to keep the boxes as well. Our children (dd7, ds5, and dd3) had so much fun with those! I cut doors in the sides, and put tape over the edges of the cut out doorways so they were less likely to cut or scrape skin while going in and out. Also, I covered the tops with a very light pretty fabric that I was saving for a dress. This ‘roof’ effectively allowed light into the boxes and made them less unattractive in the family room. They became homes first and space ships later. I wonder what your boys will think of turning the refridgerator box into. Wonderful find! ^ ^